The cheeses known as pasta filata (plastic curd) are Italian-type cheeses characterized by the fact that, after the whey is drained off, the curd is immersed in hot water or hot whey and is worked, stretched, and molded while it is in a plastic condition. Pasta filata cheese can be divided into two distinct types, hard cheeses such as provolone and caciocavallo which are salted and cured, i.e., ripened, for 2 to 12 months, and soft or moist cheeses such as mozzarella and scamorze which are eaten fresh with little or no ripening.
The present invention is directed to the soft pasta filata cheeses, principally mozzarella, and, as used herein, it is to be understood that the term pasta filata is intended to be limited to the soft uncured type. The traditional process for the manufacture of pasta filata cheese and several improvements are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,745 issued to Zamzow et al. and assigned to the same party as the present application, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This patent recognizes that considerable handworking is required in the manufacture of pasta filata cheese curd and that the process is complicated and subject to control problems. Because of these difficulties, pasta filata cheese generally is produced in small pieces, generally irregular in shape, of no more than about five pounds in weight.
For many years, the cheese industry has sought to be able to produce the various cheese varieties in large uniformly sized blocks which can readily be handled by large and modern cheese factory and food packaging equipment and yet retain the characteristics, e.g., appearance, texture and taste, of traditionally prepared cheese. Large blocks of cheese can readily be divided and packaged in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, for example, as smaller blocks for individual consumers, as 20 slices of varying thickness, width, and length, or in large blocks for food service applications. While large blocks of American type cheese has been successfully produced for a number of years, until the present invention, satisfactory large blocks of soft pasta filata cheese have not been obtainable.
Improved methods and apparatus for the manufacture of large American type cheese blocks involving the placement of fresh (uncured) curd into a large container are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,969,995 to Krueger, et al., 4,049,838 to Krueger, et al., and 4,234,615 to Krueger, all assigned to the same company as the present application, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference. These patents focus on the draining of whey and the pressing of curd in a large container, preferably using drainer blades of a particular design. The inventions focused primarily on large sized blocks of American type natural cheese, such as cheddar or Colby varieties of cheese. Although the patents mention possible applicability to mozzarella cheese, in practice the disclosed invention has not been attempted for the manufacture of mozzarella or other pasta filata cheese because of the requirements for working, stretching and molding while in a plastic condition that is necessary to obtain acceptable pasta filata cheese. The methods and apparatus disclosed in the above-identified Krueger patents have not been used for soft pasta filata cheeses such as Italian mozzarella because the product is too hot for direct fill at a typical processing temperature of about 63.degree. C. (145.degree. F.). The hot cheese would caramelize (turn brown). On the other hand, cooling of soft pasta filata cheese results in characteristics which are not suitable for direct fill.
Another approach to the manufacture of large cheese blocks is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,014. This patent discloses collating and consolidating successive layers of fresh uncured cheese blocks. The method disclosed in the '014 patent would not work for the manufacture of large blocks of soft pasta filata cheese for the same reasons explained above with respect to the requirements for processing such cheese.
While the methods of the above described patents may represent improvements in the conventional method for the manufacture of pasta filata cheese or for the manufacture of large blocks of cheese generally, it would be desirable to provide a method for making pasta filata-type cheeses in the form of a large uniformly shaped block.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for making a large uniformly shaped block of pasta filata cheese. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for remolding a plurality of finished pieces of pasta filata cheese into one or more blocks of desired shape and size. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing a block of pasta filata cheese that is simple and economical and which maximizes the flexibility of the end uses of the cheese block.